I don't think you can include the more recent Disney films (Frozen, Moana, Brave) with the traditional princess movies like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Completely different styles of "princess", completely different themes. Even Belle from Beauty and the Beast is more independent minded, book-smart, etc. than the older generations of Disney princesses.

I've never been a girly-girl, either, and my parents never pushed me one way or the other. My DD's mood changes almost on a daily basis. One day she's playing princess dress-up, the next she's playing with dinosaurs, matchbox cars, and her Lego sets. Variety is healthy, for both little boys and little girls.

Anonymous wrote:Why? Do you think that princesses or girly girls are "less than" other characters?

This was me. My daughter started to be super into princesses and pink and rainbows and all of that around 3 or 4, and I didn’t get it, and I didn’t like it. Tried to steer her away to other interests. Then I realized that it was all about me and my prejudice toward traditional “girly girl” stuff, which I had never been into as a kid or as an adult. I didn’t want to be that shitty mom who made my kid feel bad about what she genuinely liked (my mom never made me feel bad about my non-traditional choices as a kid). So I kind of gave in and indulged her, and now she’s moved on to other things. And as other PPs have noted, today’s princesses tend to be way more awesome than the ones we grew up with, and are often the courageous heroines of the stories, rather than the damsels in distress.

Anonymous wrote:What if your child was a boy who liked princess dresses? Would you tell him he couldn't dress up like a princess or watch a princess movie?

Not the OP, but I'll play at this game.

My son was very into Elsa when the first movie came out and dressed up like Elsa in preschool. He had the wig, the heels, the dress. The whole nine yards. When K started, it was left in a pile and never touched again.

I also have a daughter who has seen Frozen 2 and is the right age to be into it and is not interested. She's into superheroes and dinosaurs.

Don't overthink it. Expose them to everything and whatever they like, they like. And it will all pass. Let them be who they are, not who you think they should be.

I don't think it is fair or accurate to lump Frozen in with Disney Princesses of the past - Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, etc. Aside from the long dress, there is nothing really pricessy about it.

She is not sitting around waiting for a Prince to bail her out. Maybe watch the movie before you decide it is something you need to shield your daughter from.

Ours is a HS senior. She was in the Princess phase before Frozen. I spent a lot of time in the grocery store waiting for her to catch up to me in her pink, plastic Sleeping Beauty heels. She had some horrifying princess costumes that she wore everywhere, watched every mass marketed Disney Princess DVD, and loved so many other non-feminist, non-resistance, non-girl power things. That phase was over in a few years. She has 2 college acceptances under her belt before Christmas, is in a zillion ECs, holds multiple leadership positions, gets great grades, etc. Don’t sweat the Princesses. Enjoy them and then let them go (see what I did there) when it’s time.

I'm pretty much the least girly of girls that you'll ever meet, and I had no issues with the princess stuff, other than the difficulty of getting glitter out of a rug once it's in there. It's a pretty short phase, and your girls (or boys) can come out the other side as totally normal people.

Frozen wasn't a bad movie, actually, though I found Frozen 2 pretty meh. Brave was downright awesome. The new generation of princesses tend to be on the badass side.

Anonymous wrote:I tell my kids that wishing to be a princess is not logical. To be a princess one's parents have to be royalty. I am not a royalty, ergo they are not princesses. My kids are pretty logical so it works.

Parenting for Vulcans.

I just simply never bought any Disney stuff at all. It's that simple.

we love it, we even did the Princess Breakfast at Disneyland and it was so amazing

You can't shield her forever. At 3.5 she has friends in preschool and they talk about the princesses

I thoroughly loved my daughter's princess phase and am sad it was so short lived.

We never exposed our kid to it either and she is still obsessed with all things princess. You can’t avoid it OP

Anonymous wrote:I tell my kids that wishing to be a princess is not logical. To be a princess one's parents have to be royalty. I am not a royalty, ergo they are not princesses. My kids are pretty logical so it works.

Do you quash all imaginative play? How much of it is logical?

Anonymous wrote:I tell my kids that wishing to be a princess is not logical. To be a princess one's parents have to be royalty. I am not a royalty, ergo they are not princesses. My kids are pretty logical so it works.

My kid certainly knows it's pretend, but that doesn't stop her from spending hours pretending to make ice castles with powers shooting out of her hands. She knows she pretending, but loves using her imagination.

I don’t mind the newer princess movies, but I’m trying to avoid the ones from my youth- Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, etc- because I’m not a fan of the messages. The only thing that kills me about Frozen is DD is now desperate for her own sister to go on adventures with, and I probably won’t be having any more kids.

I really, really wish I could get DD into Brave. The part where she figures out she can win the archery tournament and therefore win her own hand in marriage.....that makes me tear up. Such a great movie.

It’s not a princess movie, but we also love Inside Out. It’s been great for discussing and working through feelings. Wish it was as popular as Frozen/Moana!

I tell my kids that wishing to be a princess is not logical. To be a princess one's parents have to be royalty. I am not a royalty, ergo they are not princesses. My kids are pretty logical so it works.